White Knight of the Commonwealth
by Pheonixash
Summary: Fight or Flight. A base animal instinct. Hunters usually had the former. Jaune Arc was all too familiar with the latter. No matter how circumstantial it was or hard he worked, he simply had no talent for it. But when thrown into the Wastes Jaune is forced to learn the third option. Survive. But when Remnant comes by he learns another lesson. No one leaves the Wasteland unscathed.
1. Dreams

**A/N Guess who had the maddening impulse to write a Fallout story.**

 **It's a bit of a side project. I have a basic idea of where I'm going to go with this. As you will see, the chapter was inspired by Inquisitor Halbread's Knight of the Wasteland. I got his permission just in case if it got a little bit too inspired if you know what I mean. Also, it turns out Knight of the Wasteland is not abandoned, which is good to know. That story has definitely got tons of potential, but anyways on with the story!**

 ***EDIT: 21/11/2018***

 ***EDIT: 16/02/2019***

 **Beta'd by CeleneTheAngel**

* * *

 _Dreams._

 _They're what guide the paths of human and faunus alike._

 _One of the things that made both species different from the Grimm, single minded beings who only sought destruction._

 _Dreams made Heroes._

 _Dreams also created War._

 _No matter how much Humanity and Faunus tried to prevent it,_

 _war would always come back._

 _After all,_

 _war…_

 _…. war never changes._

* * *

Jaune Arc was considered the Black Sheep of the Arcs by many.

He never showed any skill in combat, even though he was born into a family of heroes. He often was bullied due to this and had never retaliated against his bullies. His grades, while good, weren't as impressive as his sisters, except for the sciences which strangely, he had a knack for.

Overall, Jaune was a good person.

But as an Arc he was a failure.

He suspected he knew why he was never put into training to become a huntsman. His twin sister, Jeanne Arc, was put into training first by their older sibling, Lavender Arc, the second oldest of the Arc children. Jeanne had somehow found blackmail material on Lavender to "persuade" her to start a bit early.

Not that Jeanne ever told him what the said material was, she would laugh her butt off and would completely forget to tell him. When he tried asking Lavender she would blush a bit and tell him to forget it before leaving muttering how she had left some door unlocked.

His sisters were weird.

When they both came of age to train, their father, although he had unlocked their Aura, was far too busy to train them. Not that Jaune could blame him, preparing for a sixth child had that kind of toll on a man, super-powered or not. So, when the entrance exams to Signal started, Jeanne was eligible to go, although she barely made the cut.

Not that that deterred Jaune. Far from it actually, he just became more determined. It was just like the books he read, the hero faces a trial before his adventure could begin. The hero had to prove himself that he was ready to take on such an adventure.

So, he made it his goal to pester his sisters about going on one of their hunting trips.

Of course, they all outright refused with big fat no's.

Not that it would stop the 11-year-old Arc.

He was the hero after all.

 _And heroes never gave up._

* * *

Three years had passed, and he had yet to convince any of his older siblings to take them out on their hunts.

But he was getting pretty close!

"Come on Chris! Please", begged the 14-year-old Jaune Arc.

"No means no, Jaune", said Christa Arc in an exhausted tone. She yawned as she wrote a new note on her textbook. She gave an internal groan at the amount of homework she had to go through before finishing and silently cursing a certain hyper-caffeinated Professor.

 _'UGH! School break is meant to be a break dammit!'_ She thought with frustration, struggling with her self-control not to rip the textbook to shreds.

"Chris I've trained with Crocea Mors and everything! Please let me go."

Christa looked at her younger brother wearily. He had been an unfortunate case to say the least.

Long story short, Jaune had no talent for formal combat. They've had practice spars with him, and he'd never shown raw talent for it, unlike Jeannette who soaked it up like a sponge in very little time, resulting in his sisters being unable to train him due to the fact it would take longer. It didn't help that they were always either in one of the Academies or out on missions. It was just impossible to train him.

Their father being unable to train him because of their mother was just another unlucky coincidence.

Not that it stopped him from trying over and over again. Night after night he would practice on an old wooden tree with a practice sword, he'd even sometimes collapse with exhaustion, and sleep there for the rest of the night where their mother would find him and berate him for working too hard.

She could never understand what drove him. He would constantly beg both her and Lavender to take him on one of their missions in order to 'prove' himself that he was able. But she knew no matter what the male Arc did he would never be able to go to Beacon, Haven or any other Huntsman Academy, as he could never be able to reach the bar set by people who trained all their life to become Huntsman and Huntresses.

Not with only three years left to go.

Everyone had tried to steer Jaune away from the path of a Huntsman, but the boy adamantly refused and was determined to push through, no matter what they said. Resulting in the current situation of them denying his every request to train or take him on one of their hunts.

Unless…

There may just be a way to stop her kid brother on this foolish path of his.

"Alright Jaune you can come along."

* * *

Jaune slashed the air with a resounding swing of his sword.

He panted heavily and fell onto his back, grinning.

Finally, after all this time he had his chance.

A chance to prove that he wasn't a failure.

He'd worked every single day for this one chance.

The bullies and his family believed he couldn't do it.

But he'd show them all,

that Jaune Arc can become a Hero.

* * *

Christa Arc laughed and giggled as the landscape went by in endless shades of green and blue.

Only slightly ruining the mood was Jaune vomiting in the background.

Her team had been mostly okay with bringing Jaune on board with the mission, although some still had their doubts, but eventually they agreed on her plan, saying it was for the best.

She still felt more than a little guilty about bringing him along. No doubt he was thrilled to get chance to prove himself. But the longer he deluded himself into believing he could become a huntsman in such little time, the more crushed he would be later on.

The problem would be that he wouldn't quit even after that.

He would continue beating himself up training and throwing himself at missions. Sure, he'd be upset, but he'd always just continue on no matter what anyone told him. She had seen it happen once before with their father, and she regretted not being able to help back then, but she couldn't change the past.

The less he accepts the unlikeliness of his dream ever happening and crushing him in future, the higher the chances of him potentially dying. Better sooner than later, and before he can get the chance to seriously hurt himself and possibly get killed.

And she'll be damned if she lets anything happen to her kid brother.

Honestly, she was surprised he wasn't asking to go home halfway into the ride.

But she should've realized that a little motion sickness wouldn't be nearly enough to discourage him.

* * *

Christa Arc was pissed.

"OUMDAMNIT! GLASS, GIVE ME COVERING FIRE!"

Correction, she was very pissed.

It was supposed to be a relatively simple mission. Get in, kill some grimm, and leave with minimal injuries.

I say minimal because injuries, even if just minor ones, were usually a given with these kinds of missions.

Bur after they had landed, they were immediately swarmed by beowolves.

An entire horde of over century-old beowolves.

They were told that there would be quite a few of them, but this was ridiculous.

Someone up there hated her, she was sure of it. That, or her luck was as shitty as ever.

The fight was hard, but they weren't Hunters of Beacon Academy for nothing.

They were just about beginning to push back the horde when an Alpha Beowulf pounced onto the hood of the bullhead and scooped her brother away like a child taking candy from a baby.

Leading to the current situation.

"JAUNE!"

Christa tried to give chase but more of the horde blocked her path. She growled as she loaded up her double-edged spear/revolver with Dust rounds.

"Alright you damn mutts, I'm only gonna say this nicely once."

She leveled her spear in front of her and split it into two short swords.

"Back the fuck off."

The beowolves charged.

A hurricane of steel and bullets rained down on top of them.

Christa Arc quickly glanced at the Alpha as she decapitated another Beowulf and was soundly surprised and worried at the same time.

Jaune was fighting the Alpha.

He was actually fighting and surviving against an Alpha Beowolf.

Jaune ducked and rolled, slashing at the tall beast's hindlegs at every opportunity. Deflecting powerful swings with the flat of his shield and even rammed the edge of the shield into the Alpha's groin.

That was the first time she'd ever heard an Alpha-type Grimm whimper.

Despite Jaune's inherent lack of skill with fighting, he seemed to have inherited what the rest of the family called the ole' Arc stubbornness. Even so, Christa knew he wouldn't last long. She could see him quickly tiring and the Alpha was only getting more and more enraged.

She had to hurry.

A pack of 9 beowolfs began clouding her vison.

She had six shot left before needing to reload.

Shooting forward she ran through the first beowolf, its mangled corpse flinging forward spearing into two more before dissipating.

6 left.

Pouring in as much Aura as her legs could take, she converted her spear into two sabres. Side-stepping a swipe for her head and thrusting the blades into the throats in quick succession.

4 left.

Jaune was knocked back into a tree. Blood spilling from his lips. The Alpha bounded forward in a mad rush showing it was done playing with its prey. Jaune scrambling to leap away.

She was running out of time.

Converting swords back into a double ended spear she slashed through the legs of the next pair. Not even caring if they died or not.

2 left.

The remaining two roared and ran towards her. She raised her spear up before smashing into the dirt in front of the grimm. She spun in the air as her weapon shifted back into the gunblades, firing two shots through their skulls resulting in her being launched even higher in the air.

Her spear shifted again, this time the two barrels were in parallel at one end of the spear while taking a javelin throwers stance midair.

"GET AWAY FROM HIM!"

She threw with all her might and as she launched it both the bullets fired causing the velocity to be increased exponentially.

The Alpha whirled and saw the incoming projectile.

Spear crunched through flesh.

The Alpha roared.

"No…" Christa whispered in disbelief.

Her spear hadn't pierced all the way through.

She had failed.

The Alpha roared as it ripped the spear out from its chest, tossing it away as if it was a toothpick.

Only to get cut off by a boy jabbing into its hind legs.

"Jaune!"

The boy was knocked back and skidded against the ground before coming to a stop. The Alpha stalking after him as Jaune struggled back onto his feet.

"NO, NO, NO!" Christa screamed as she ran after it. She may not have her weapon, but she refused to let her brother die in a place like this.

But she was too slow.

The Alpha leaped forward head first, jaws wide open as it came down on the weak human.

Christa reached out, pumping even more aura than she thought possible into her limps.

The jaws clamped.

And a brilliant white flash lit up the clearing like a second sun.

Christa blinked away the black spots in her vison.

"Gah! - Who set off the flash grenade?!" said a voice coming from behind her.

Christa ignored her and looked at the dead Alpha that was now evaporating.

And Jaune who stood over it.

Exhausted he used his sword as crutch, he gasped for air as he wobbled and tried not to fall flat on his face.

"Jaune!"

Christa ran as quickly as she could to her brothers' side and hugged the life out of him.

"Chris…air!"

Christa quickly let go of him and gave him a once over. Satisfied her brother wasn't going to suffer any long-term injury she took a deep breath.

"Jaune Miles Arc!"

Jaune flinched.

"Never in my life have I seen something so stupid! You reckless idiot! I told you specifically to hide in the Bullhead, but you end up fighting an Alpha Beowolf with little to no formal training?!"

"But it took me out of the Bullhead..." Jaune meekly tried to defend himself.

"No excuses! Once Mom hears this you are so grounded!"

Jaune hung his head. He knew it was pointless trying to argue with any of his sisters. He always lost.

"But…"

Jaune perked up. There was a but? Well that was a first.

"You did good. You survived fighting an Alpha, and most couldn't do that at your age. Sloppy, yes. But you still survived."

Jaune smiled at that. He finally proved himself. Maybe now he can ask again.

"Can I train with you and Lavender then? I wanna become a hero!"

Christa laughed and gave her brother another hug as she quickly considered it, and decided that maybe there was hope for him yet.

"Alright. I'm going to train you like no tomorrow. But first let's get back home 'kay?"

Jaune grinning and hugged her older sister tightly.

"Arc's promise?"

"Arc's promise."

"CHRIS! THERE'S STILL SOME LEFT! GET A MOVE ON!" One of her teammates called.

The two siblings looked at each other.

"…we'll go home after we're done with this."

"'Kay"

"And Jaune."

"Yeah?"

"Go hide in the bullhead."

"… Fine..."

* * *

Christa and her team walked towards the new Bullhead with Jaune lagging at their feet. The old one had been damaged and had to be air towed away.

As they walked up the gangplank Jaune called out to them.

"Chris... I feel funny."

Before Christa could so much as even turn around to look behind her, a flash of bright blue light filled her vison.

Once she was able to see again her shrill scream echoed through the surrounding area.

Her brother was gone.

* * *

Allie Fillmore was very annoyed.

"Your antics have gone on long enough Watson!"

"What is it now Fillmore?" The old scientist growled.

"You know damn well what I mean Watson. You messed with the Relay again!"

"It was needed for valuable research," he explained calmly.

"You didn't even ask to get clearance from me!"

"What's going on here" asked Madison Li.

"Your subordinate messed with the Relay again."

"It was required for the new batch of synth relay grenades."

"And it was due to your incompetence that a human jump was made."

"W-what?" Evans spluttered in shock.

"This could potentially compromise us," muttered Allie.

"We need to report this to Father," said Madison, turning to the nearest terminal and began typing.

The Institute would eliminate the threat.

By any means necessary.

* * *

The last thing he saw was his sister's worried face.

Jaune didn't know what happened to him. There was a flash of white and blue then he remembered a blue tunnel with lightning. Groaning, he rolled over, his senses coming back to him. His eyes blinked out the black spots that covered his vision, faintly wondering when had it turned night-time. He tried standing up.

Immediately, the second he put his hand on the ground his aura recoiled.

It felt _dead_.

Jaune scrambled up to his feet, stumbling as he did so. His feet digging into the dead earth as he withdrew Crocea Mors, raising it high he tried slashing at the ground.

Only for his sword to get caught in the trunk of a cut down tree.

Resulting in him falling flat on his face as he lost his balance.

Boy did he feel stupid right now.

He rose up again, looking at the grey-yellow earth in confusion. Never had he seen soil that felt so dead. So... _soulless_.

 **Like a grimm.**

He looked around. Leafless trees stood, and he could barely make out a tower in the distance through the haze. Picking up Crocea Mors and sheathing it, he anxiously called out for his sister.

"Chris?"

Silence.

When he had looked up at the sky he had the sinking feeling he was going to be here for a while.

Because what greeted him was not a cracked and broken moon,

but a small, unbroken moon with thousands of stars filling the midnight-black sky.

* * *

 **End.**


	2. Of Monsters Part 1

**Hey guys! It been a while hasn't it.**

 **Sorry about being a slowpoke at updating this but man Winter this year is so damn cold and it ain't even snowing! I had Exams and ended up getting a cold. Which I then made worse by doing collections for a charity out in the rain. (I REGRET NOTHING!). Then I had to help organise charity events which took up a good bit of my time making December a busy month.**

 **Also, I GOT A BETA! Finally! I've actually been looking for one since forever ago. So finally getting one is a yesss moment for me. Chapter 1 has improved so much for those of you who have read the original, the quality of chapters in general went up so much and adding the fact she's been helping me out a lot and I mean a lot a lot. So huge thanks to CeleneTheAngel.**

 **Enough of my rambling on with the story!**

 **Beta'd by CeleneTheAngel.**

* * *

 **"You open the closet. It's just a closet. You never find the monster that hides inside… Not until it jumps out at you… "– Conrad Kellogg**

* * *

Jaune was beginning to hate this place.

"Gah! Work you piece junk!"

He glared at his scroll angrily, the loading icon almost mockingly glaring back at him, before giving him the exact same result.

No signal.

Jaune groaned. This was the fifth time now.

He had been frantically looking for Chris and her team, and having eventually given up on that, tried calling them. Only to find out his scroll couldn't even connect to the CCT.

He was panicking, something which was akin to suicide out in the field.

He needed to calm down.

 _"Come on Jaune. Breathe."_

In.

Out.

In.

Out.

In…

Out…

He needed to find Chris.

But first he had to get out of this place and get somewhere safe before he lost his cool again.

"Alright Jaune," Jaune muttered, trying to run damage control in his head, "You're alone in a place where the plants and dirt are dead, the moon isn't shattered to bits, the stars are visible, and your scroll is broken.

Conclusion: The universe still hates me, and somehow I'm in Vacuo."

Vacuo. The barren and desolate sands of the west.

The country with only one law;

If you're strong, you're welcome.

Simple as that.

And Jaune didn't like his odds.

But he was a kid with dreams, and a stubborn personality to boot. Hopefully he'd be able to find someone to help get him on a Bullhead to Vale. All he needed to do was find civilization and pray he wouldn't get stopped at border control 'cuz he was a noodle.

He wasn't gonna sacrifice his precious Pumpkin Pete for nothin'.

It's the only thing that's been keeping him alive in a house with 5 sisters.

 _Good. Keep thinking positive. Next, find some people._

Jaune grinned as he unsheathed Crocea Mors.

It wasn't much of an adventure, but it'll do.

"Onward!"

* * *

Jaune was seriously beginning to think the universe was genuinely out to get him. He'd been the outcast of the Arcs, he'd been bullied at school, and he was refused at every turn when he tried getting help.

Just when things were looking up, it all snowballed downhill again, getting him stuck in Vacuo.

It had also begun to rain.

And now he was witnessing something that just made him want puke.

"Please my daughter she's sick-!" The man cried in panic and desperation.

"HAhAHaHA! Can we kill 'em boss?"

A man was kneeling on the ground, helplessly cradling a pale looking girl. Both were rather frail looking. And both were filthy, the clothes they wore hung loosely and were torn in several places.

Standing over them was three people who were as filthy looking, but were also wearing armor and head gear. One wore gas mask and had pipes running down all over his torso which seemed to act as another kind of armor. He stood a little ways off from the other two and had a gun trained on the two victims.

Another actually had armor although it was rusted and consisted nothing of bars, also having a gas mask over his face, he was laughing psychotically, almost casually waving his machete around.

The last one seemed to be the leader and wore better quality armor then then the other two, he also had no head gear.

Jaune only knew about them from stories. How hunters finally went insane after too long of being out in the field.

These men were sociopaths, plain and simple. The leader, especially, carried himself in the same manner as a ticking bomb.

Monsters who were even more dangerous than the Grimm.

"Whoops my hand slipped~" Trilled the especially psychotic one.

The same monsters who put a knife in the kneeling man's shoulder.

 _ **"AAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"**_ Screamed the man.

Jaune had seen enough.

He had to go help.

Slowly letting out a deep breath he let out a yell.

"Hey!"

The three looked around to see him charging from the undergrowth, shield raised high as rain pelted down on him. 'Gun' took notice and was about fire, but had the wind knocked out of him by Jaune hitting his gut with the flat of his shield.

"WHAT?!" screeched the psycho with the bars as armor.

"Leave them alone!" yelled Jaune.

'Nailed it!' he thought victoriously grinning from ear to ear.

The leader, the one he had (unoriginally) dubbed the 'Leader', just cackled.

For a moment Jaune stood there, dazed, before giving a yelp as he ducked under a hail of bullets.

"You just had to play hero!" The leader roared. "Get him!"

Unsheathing Crocea Mors, Jaune swiped at Bars who quickly took initiative. Jaune let out a gasp as Bars kicked his gut, allowing Crocea's sharp edge to dig deep into the arm holding the machete.

Jaune followed the momentum of the kick and rolled. Coughing as he came back up, Jaune couldn't help but gawk at Bars for a bit before diving away from an overhead slash. The machete came crashing to the ground where he once was, yet Bars looked far from injured in fact he was laughing.

 _Crud, they don't have their aura activated._

Which meant Jaune would have to pull his punches.

Clambering up to his feet, he raised his shield again, this time tried driving the edge into Bars chin. Only getting knocked back blocking a punch to the gut. His arms groaned in protest as he continued to catch an overhead swing with his sword.

His arms felt as if they were about to break.

How strong is this guy?

Hearing the familiar sound of gunfire, he suddenly remembering Leader and Gun were still there.

 _Bars was still in their line of fire! Do they not care if he gets killed?!_ Jaune screeched in his head.

Pouring aura into his back, he didn't stop fighting off Bars' onslaught of slashes.

His aura flashed as bullets came crashing down on his back. While some did hit Bars, yet again he didn't seem too bothered by it. Jaune felt the hail continue but trusted his aura to hold.

He had plenty of it, or so he was told.

He then felt something snap.

Bullets stabbed through his lower back. He screamed, kneeling down, as he felt blood begin to seep through his hoodie. Unable to register the fact that Bars was towering over him and lashed out with a kick to Jaune's ribs, sending him flying.

Jaune gasped for breath. His vision felt a little blurry, and a sharp stab of pain seared through his temples. Bile rose up to his throat. He retched as he struggled to get back on his feet again.

"What the hell?" Jaune groaned out weakly rubbing his hands across his wound and seeing in disbelief the blood covered all over his hand. "What happened to my aura? It was fine a second ago."

He knew his aura hadn't run out yet. He also knew it should've been able to block the pain of the landing and his wounds.

"Why is it still bleeding?"

Jaune didn't know how long it usually took to heal a bullet wound. His usual injuries were small cuts or bruises when he wasn't careful. Typically, those would fade after a second or two.

The bleeding should've stopped or at least slowed down by now.

Something was wrong.

Bars rushed up to Jaune. Seeing as he wasn't allowed to have a second's reprieve, Jaune side-stepped Bars, swiping at his ankle as he passed. Jaune didn't bother watching him trip over and charged forward at Gun. Keeping his shield raised up to protect his torso, Jaune poured aura into his legs, increasing his speed as well as ensuring stray bullets wouldn't send him headfirst into the mud.

His chest felt like it was about to burst open.

"Ahhh!" Jaune yelled out in pain as another bullet ripped through his torso.

Another two more smashed through his aura protected legs resulting him falling into a heap. Blood began flowing rapidly in puddle beneath him.

He felt tired.

He could hear his heartbeat roaring in his ears. His head felt like someone put a metal spike through it. He couldn't force his body to move. His breathing became erratic as he came to a mind came to a grinding halt at a single question.

 _Am I going to die?_

"Not so tough now are ya, hero?" drawled Leader. Between the mud, headache and rain Jaune couldn't see properly, he could only barely make out Leader's silhouette and his two goons behind him. He looked for the man and little girl, as he hadn't seen either during the fight. Now, he could only assume they ran away.

They were safe and would be able to live for another day.

 _But...I don't want to die…_

Jaune wasn't the resentful type, it just wasn't in his nature. He was sure those two felt just as scared as he was right now. He was actually kind of happy that he managed to save someone. Just like the heroes in the stories Dad told him.

But in those stories the heroes lived happily ever after.

"I'll hang your head up on a pike once I'm done ripping it off your corpse. Blond is hard to come by these days", giggled the leader, giving him a solid kick to his rib causing Jaune to gasp out in agony forcing him to roll onto his back. "It'll sure brighten up the place instead of those weedy settlers."

Rain continued to pour down. His tears were obscured in the mud and water.

"Oh~ can I have the fancy sword, Boss?" Bars said placing his claim.

 _I don't wanna die._

"You still high? Look at his armor. It looks so clean. You can scam that for a ton of caps."

"Why would you scam it? Just take the caps and kill the loser after. Ugh noobs."

 _Not in this place._

"Let's just kill him already. I need to get the fucker who ran away with my knife."

There was so much he needed to do. Say he was sorry to Christa and Lavender for pestering them all these years, play with the twins, go to Beacon, his dream academy, and become a hero.

"It's been a good laugh hero, but it's lights out for you." Leader said leveling his rifle at Jaune's head.

All he ever wanted was to help people and live up to his family name.

He promised himself.

He wouldn't become failure.

 _"I don't want to die…"_

 _ **Bang!**_

* * *

Everything hurt.

 _So much for death being painless._ Jaune thought bitterly.

He tried recounting all the events up that lead up to this point.

 _I ended up landing on a completely different continent, I saved two people but consequently died because my aura suddenly stopped working and because of those three freaks of nature.'_

He shuddered at the reminder. Nothing slowed Bars down, it almost as if he didn't even register the pain. Gun too, he was sure he gutted him hard enough to put him out for a good while, at least that's what should've happened according to the book he learnt the move from.

The leader was just nuts. Enough said.

 _Afterwards everything felt hot and something flashed. Huh, guess the whole going into the light thing was actually a thing._

"Mister are you awake?"

 _Ugh, I'm so tired. I'm sore all over._

"Mister?"

 _"Let me sleep."_ He muttered

"Wake up!"

Suddenly feeling cold, Jaune felt his irritation grow.

 _Oh, she's gonna get now._

"What do you want?!" Jaune yelled back, shooting forward into a sitting position, his eyes glaring holes at…

…a little girl?

"Good you're awake. I'll go get Dad. He'll know what to do with you."

What?

It was the girl. She had been sickly pale before but now she looked perfectly fine.

"What on Remnant is happening?" Jaune muttered. He winced as he rolled out of the mattress. The window had been left open to allow the moonlight to stream in. His armor had been removed and placed in the corner of the shack, leaving him with his hoodie. Pulling up the hood, he looked down he saw all his wounds had been healed although it still hurt to move.

"I'm…I'm not dead?" said Jaune in disbelief, patting his forehead.

"So, you're awake."

It was the man from before.

He laughed at Jaune's jaw dropped expression before handing him a can.

"You must be thirsty, luckily we had some purified water left over. The name's David, by the way"

Jaune looked at the clear water, his throat suddenly feeling very parched. He downed it in one go. His mind felt a little clearer but there were still so many unanswered questions.

"Jaune. And thanks... but how did you heal me?" Jaune asked still more than a little overwhelmed at the fact he's not dead. His aura had stopped completely working, it might have possibly been drained, but Jaune had the funny feeling it wasn't the case. Also, the fact aura had very limited healing. Things still scarred and the wounds he had taken would've been able to take a Beacon student out of commission.

Permanently.

So that begged the question. How?

"Actually, that's thanks to you," said David. "After you killed the scavver, the other two ran. His body had a few stimpaks and a radaway. We gave you a stimp, but you wouldn't wake up."

"Wait, wait! Hold on a sec. I never killed anyone!"

 _What is he on about? Stimpaks? Radaway? And me killing someone?! I was the one who was nearly killed!_

David looked at him oddly. Jaune scowled back at him, he had just about enough. Now he just wanted answers.

"Yes, you did kill him," David said in confused manner, but a slight smile came upon his face after. "It was amazing! They were about to shoot you, but then there was this huge flash of light and that bastard had his head blown off. His two goons ran, pissing themselves."

David laughed at the memory as Jaune face progressively began looking paler and paler.

Flash of white?

That sounded familiar.

"Don't know where you kept a flash grenade but I'm damn thankful for it. You saved both me and my daughters life."

"W-where am I exactly?" Jaune asked again nervously, he could feel bile begin to rise to this throat again.

"Tenpines Bluff," David replied, his lips thinned to a tired smile. "Not the biggest settlement on the Commonwealth but that doesn't stop Raiders from messing with us."

"Where is that in Vale?" Jaune said confused. He never heard of it, villages rise and fell so quickly it was hard to keep track of it all. The name itself certainly didn't sound Vacuoian.

He just wanted to go home.

"Vale? Is that the name of a settlement?"

Jaune stilled.

"...It's a continent." Jaune slowly replied. "Where am I in Vale? Or even better where on Remnant am I?

"What the hell are you on about?" said David. "We're in the Commonwealth Wasteland where else would we all be?"

"No, no, no." Jaune said practically seething now, struggling to keep his anger reined in he asked again. "You have to have heard of Remnant. You know, the planet we live on?!"

"Is that what you call Earth in your settlement? It's actually a good name for this hellhole ever since the bombs dropped.

 _No, no, no! This can't be happening._ Jaune thought frantically, holding his head in his hands. His anxiety was at an all-time high.

"Listen Jaune, we'll chat tomorrow. You've had a long night, so get some more sleep. The other settlers are going to convene and talk about what we should do about the Raiders. If you want, you can come." David said turning around not noticing Jaune distress. "Night Jaune."

Jaune didn't respond. The door clicked shut.

Taking a glance through the window he saw the decayed trees and dirt. Not a single Grimm in sight.

The moon mockingly looked down at him.

He cried himself to sleep that night.

* * *

 **END.**

 **Radiation is a _wonderful_ thing isn't. XD**

 **I really hope Celene doesn't mind me ripping this off from her but….**

 **HAVE A MERRY NON-DESCRIPT EVERYONE! XD**


	3. Of Monsters Part 2

**Hey guys… Been what 2 months since I last updated.**

 **Yea... 2019 is making things really busy for me T-T, hope it's going better for ye. But lucky me I'm on Midterm break now so chapter 4 is being typed out as we speak!**

 **Something to note. Jaune will be going back to Remnant. I'm going to show his last year off in the next three or four chapter and doing the rest of his time in the Commonwealth in flashbacks when he's in Remnant so that's answering the one question that will come up. **

**Oh, this chapter was inspired by _Knight of the Wasteland_ by Inquisitor Halbread. But I did say I had permission, and this will be the last time where it will be similar to his story. After this it'll be very different to his. Very, very different *grins maliciously*.**

 **I'm probably forgetting what else I was supposed to say but meh.**

 **On with the story!**

 **Beta'd by CeleneTheAngel**

* * *

 **"Deathclaws, ferals, even bots. They don't know what they're doing. But Raiders, they choose to be this cruel." – Piper Wright**

* * *

Screams.

Red Cinder watched on as the new slaves were rounded up. Systematically placed into groups: men in one, women in another and children all sectioned off to go to designated areas in the Commonwealth.

And frankly, she was not at all surprised at the incompetence of the Minutemen.

It was a relatively small town to be honest, with the only things standing between her Raiders and them was a single guard. Their only two Minutemen soldiers had arrived while they were rounding up the civilians and were subsequently shot to pieces within the first few seconds of their arrival.

 _What retard charges head first into gunfire?_

They were untrained, incapable, and most of all dead.

Quincy had been the end of them. Simple as. While she has heard murmurs here and there, of them slowly returning to their old selves, it really didn't mean anything in the end.

They were weak. A shadow of their former selves. Taking a glance at the bushes nearby she could still see mushy bits of one of their brains hanging off the branches.

The settlers which they had sworn to protect were now cowering and in the fetal position. She sneered at them in disgust. She could remember the good old days where settlers looked at you in hate for their fate, and desperately scrabbled for any method to make you pay and get their freedom.

Now they were just a crying mess after seeing people getting hung up with meat hooks.

 _Pathetic_

Hearing the sounds of a Vertibird off in the far distance, she turned and could see them land in a satellite array which was several kilometers away. The sounds of battle raged, and lasers shot through the sky.

While she was sitting here with her spoils.

 _Typical Brotherhood,_ she thought in distaste. They were probably after some tech, as usual.

Oh well. As long she had her "goods", she wouldn't make an assault.

For now.

She took a glance at the roofs and sitting on one of the nearby roofs was Pinkie, her sniper. She was sunning herself, her trademark pink mohawk distracting from her horribly scarred face. She wore a scantily clad harness and had a lightly tanned body. She gave a lazy wave when she noticed her audience. Anyone who didn't know her would think she wasn't aware of her surroundings, but she became the sniper of the group for a reason.

"Grahhh!"

Hearing the yell, she looked curiously at the clearing opposite to the roof where Pinkie sat. There the settlers watched on in horror as their only guard was getting beaten on by one of her Raiders.

Oh. Now _this_ was interesting.

Red Cinder smiled as another settler had their leg blown off. This one was the only guard the settlers had and he had somehow gotten out of the ropes and had tried to make a break for it, but it was nothing she had to worry about. He was now a sniveling mess on the floor, the other settlers looking on helplessly. Scar face Bill was now skinning his other leg, probably for lunch later. He squealed even more when bone began showing.

Ah the screams.

Just the way she liked them.

"Well, well, lookie what we got here," Cinder derided, smiling menacingly and kicking the prone body of the downed man. The grey-haired guard below wheezed even more as the sole of her boot drove into the already wounded chest. Rolling away a few feet, his head banged on the dead earth and rolled to a stop on when he was on his back. Bleeding from his head, he tried reaching for a Pipe Pistol which was dropped by one of the Minutemen in the earlier battle and was laying only a few feet away from him.

Nothing that a spray of 5.56 bullets won't fix.

 **"AHHHH!** "

His arm now hung loosely from its socket and was pinned down by a Scavver.

"Haha! You really aren't that clever, are you?" ridiculed Red Cinder. Walking up to her she crouched down, her ashen covered face emphasizing the crazed look in her eye. "Aww, don't worry. You won't be able to escape~ E for effort though! And here's your prize!"

She pulled out her knife and stabbed it into the older man's eye. Enjoying the screams, she laughed, twisted the knife round and scraped out the remnants. The eye had become a mushy paste which fell to the ground with a sickening slop, blood now ran freely down the gaunt cheeks.

Hmm... not her best work but maybe if she ripped out the tongue...

"WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS!?"

 _What_ _ **now**_ _?_

Cinder looked behind her where one of the kids, a young brown-haired girl glared at her. She stood up defiantly even as another woman also with brown hair but softer features had broken from the group and tried holding the girl back with a fearful expression. Probably the girl's mother. The girl however wasn't having any of it and continued.

"You're a bad lady!"

 _Is this really happening?_ Red Cinder thought in amusement. Deciding to humor the brat she replied.

"Yes, I'm a very bad lady. What are you gonna do about it little girl?" Red Cinder mocked, smirking.

The girl screwed up her face in distaste and stamped her foot in retaliation. "He'll come y'know! The White Knight kills bad people like you!"

At the that the surrounding raiders bristled.

Now it was Red Cinder's turn to scowl.

The White Knight, or the Knight of the Wasteland, was a popular myth among the people of the Commonwealth. Some said he's decked out in armor like knights of old, others say he is a walking armory wielding a sword and shield and all kinds of guns like a demon out of hell. There was immense number of stories about him, about how he was an ancient ghost resurrected from the old world, or how he had super-natural abilities and others about him being some crazy kid that appeared out of nowhere.

Apparently, he left a trail of blood in his wake as he hunted all the filth in the Commonwealth from Super Mutants to tyrants. He had a special hate for Raiders according to the rumors and hunted them down mercilessly like a Deathclaw in human skin. Raiders as such have their own stories about him, giving him the name the Red Knight because he often walked away soaked in their blood.

In Red Cinder's opinion, it was all a pile of brahmin crap. Nothing more than a myth used to give some deluded hope to the wasteland, with countless people pretending to be him.

 _Besides_ ,she thought to herself, _If his origin story is complete bogus then his reported deeds are downright impossible. And what kind of idiot wears white in the freaking Wasteland? That's just_ _ **asking**_ _to get_ _killed._

"Keep dreaming brat. Actually…" Red Cinder said scratching her chin in mock wonder before grinning murderously. "I think someone needs to learn some manners, don't you agree?"

She cackled as she pulled out her assault rifle placing her sights just a few millimeters off from the girl's earlobe and fired, the girl and mother recoiled in shock at the sound and fell to their feet in terror.

"I wonder... Where's your White Knight now?"

Cinder leveled her gun right at the girl. Both of the pair on the ground trembled at the sight of the gun. However, the girl still held onto her belief strongly even in the face of death.

 _He'll come!_

Almost as if Cinder knew what the girl was thinking she replied to the girl's belief.

"He won't come now, and you know something? He _never_ will!"

*BANG!*

Blood spilled. The cold rotten earth became warm with blackish red blood.

 _What…?_

Cinder could only stare in incredulity. Her arm had been shot straight through, specifically in the joint area.

Then the pain came.

"ARGH!"

"Intruder!" screamed Pinkie firing bursts of bullet into the distance. Cinder groaned and ducked underneath a bullet which hit the Redneck Bill behind her. Quickly stabbing herself with a stimpack she roared.

" **ATTACK**!"

The Raiders roared and started firing bullet after bullet at the unknown enemy. Cinder swiftly grabbed her fallen rifle which had fallen to the floor earlier. Giving a crazed look she took a glance at the two on the floor.

"You… You're DEAD!" Cinder snarled but before she could even lay a finger on the trigger a brown speeding bundle emerged from the undergrowth.

" _Woof!_ "

 _A dog?!_

Cinder watched the mutt bound towards her, unable to react she watched it leap and come crashing down on top of her. The feeling the mutt bite into her collar she shoved him off but was unable to stop a good amount of flesh being ripped off.

She'd had enough.

Giving a solid boot to the mongrel's face, she scrambled back up to her feet and kicked the dog again as it raced back at her, she had kicked hard enough to send it flying back and give herself some distance.

But before she could put a hole through the dogs' skull, she noticed something else leap forth from the bushes.

Clad in mostly medium thickness mid class combat armor for the chest and right medium-length rusted metal arm-guard and shoulder pad with a modified knife attachment in the forearm. All of it being worn over a long brown coat with heavy leather plates over the legs. An addition to the combat outfit was that it seemed to be mostly painted in a yellowish white, with the arm guards being the whitest of the pieces.

The oddest piece was the helmet, which covered its face as well as most of his head. Cinder had never seen something like it before. It had a rounded scalp to the forehead, blue tinted lenses which obscured the eyes behind them and finally two pipes which jutted out of a nose piece which seemed to act as a gas mask.

Not to mention the amount of weaponry it was carrying: handguns, rifles, shotguns, explosives you name it.

 _It even has a freaking sword strapped to its hip!_

It looked like an NCR ranger from the southwest, but in white and brown.

Except now it was ripping through her Raiders like swiss cheese. Quite literally too.

Her two outpost guards were the first to charge at the thing, but were ripped to shreds in an instant. Fat Gary was the first one to die, the thing poured a cluster of bullets into his throat with a pistol and proceeded to push the business end of the sword into his head, and the other, Des, had the whole upper half of his body lobbed off in a flash of white before he could even blink.

"Surround him!" Cinder roared kicking the mutt away again and sending a few bullets grazing the dog's hind legs before sprinting backwards, looping the bigger threat. Four others charged forward ahead of her and began circling all the while firing bullet after bullet at the armored thing.

 _Wait... why hasn't it fired back at all?_

She couldn't see very well due to the amount of red mist being blown up in the air, but suddenly she could make out a small ball sailing through the air.

Right at the raiders ahead of her.

"GRENADE- -!"

A bullet sailed into the fragmentation grenade and blew it up prematurely.

"Son of a bitch!" She screeched as she covered herself with her gun as best as she could with the incoming shrapnel. While many had missed some did hit their mark as evidenced by the following shrieks of pain.

"MY EYE- -!" yelled a scavver before getting cut off in a burst of red light.

Rays of light continued flashing in a series and one by one her raiders fell. Cinder couldn't help but gawk in shock, this thing killed six raiders in a matter of seconds with ease. Everyone had stopped firing in disbelief. The thing seemed to take note of the silence and slightly lowered what seemed to be a heavily modified Laser Rifle.

"What the hell are you…?!" Cinder growled at the white helmeted monster. Suddenly she froze.

 _Wait a second..._ _ **White**_ _…._

"The White Knight…" gasped the little girl before unmoved from where Cinder had left her. "He really came!"

Silence…

"No goddamn way he's real!" yelled out a increasingly nervous raider. "He's only a story!... Isn't he?"

The question had everyone in the vicinity become agitated as the "White Knight" stared them down. The silence eventually lasted a few seconds before one of her lieutenants, Iron, broke it. He was the "tank" of the group, brandishing a mini-gun, the barrel began to spin as he spoke.

"Fucking pussies! It doesn't matter who that worm is! Everything dies if you put enough bullets in it! Eat this Knight!"

The Knight held his ground, stepping forwards into the shot thrusting his forearm forward. The sheathe which had been now strapped to it flowed open. White as snow with two golden arcs dominating the center of the kite shield. All the shots bounced of the painted metal. The other Raiders by following Irons' lead fired with renewed vigor.

Cinder however held her fire.

Something was wrong.

She became the leader of the pack for a reason, and time and time again her gut feeling saved her hide from the worst of dangers. It got her this far in the wastes, and it would get her through this.

Once she found a chink in the Knight's armor, she would exploit it. But as her sight fells on the knight's figure she knew,

 _It won't stop…_

Its eyes radiated blue and rushed into the fire of molten metal. Pinky fired a shot that went straight through its bicep and into its ribs and more followed its way entering various areas of the things body, but it continued unhindered. If anything, the lenses of its eyes glowed even brighter, and its speed increased two-fold.

"S-stay away!" screamed Iron, whose previous bravado had all but disappeared as the Knight came closer and closer. As it ran, the Knight pulled out a revolver and fired two shots, double tapping the Lieutenant which caused him to reel in the force behind the bullet. Knocking the barrel of the mini-gun aside using its shield, it drew out a ripper and lunged forward.

Iron roared in pain as the small chainsaw began ripping into his abdomen. Dropping the minigun, he tried to retaliate by punching the notably small figure. Feeling it connect he felt the shredding force from the ripper disappear. He then gave a sudden gasp as the Knight knocked his knees from under him. Now kneeling he looked up into the emotionless eyes of the Knight.

"Please! Don't!" pleaded the fallen Lieutenant. The Knight lashed out, grappling a fistful of Iron's messy, unkempt hair.

"You…" The filtered voice rang out to all in the vicinity. "Brought this on yourself."

The ripper was brought down blood splattering everywhere as Iron's guts spilled out of the now headless body.

If earlier didn't give Cinder enough incentive, now certainly did.

 _It won't stop until it kills every single last one of us…_

* * *

Jaune could feel the last of his aura take the brunt of another shot before it shattered. He grit his teeth as he started feeling pain from the bullets being shot at him. Returning Crocea Mors into its sheathe form and placing it to his hip, he ignored the pain and took note of the battlefield.

 _Okay Jaune. Lets get this right. The settlers are hiding the behind that building over there. There's one raider on the roof and three left on the ground. A few shots of Righteous Authority should deal with the grounded ones quickly._

Unholstering said Laser Rifle from his back, he primed it up and fired a two shots at another raider who poked his head out from behind one of the patios of the nearby houses in quick succession, which turned said raider into a pile of molten ash.

 _One down, three to go._

He ducked underneath a bullet which came from a pink haired one on the roof. Clicking his teeth, he allowed another bullet to nick him on the side of his helmet as he pulled out his assault rifle. Looking through the scope he fired a quick burst of rounds which tore through her leg causing her to fall off the roof and land on her head, killing her instantly.

He shot her corpse just in case.

 _Two years in this place and it still surprises me how durable these people are._ Jaune thought absentmindedly holstering the rifle before giving a sigh. _Not that I'm much different anymore..._

" _Grrrrrrr!_ "

"Get this damn mutt off me!"

Turning his head, he saw Dogmeat gnawing at another raider's arm, preventing him from shooting. Dogmeat landed back on the ground before jumping even higher into the man and tearing out his throat as they both landed heavily onto the floor. Dogmeat shook his snout after getting up and trotted to him with his tail wagging.

"Good job boy," Jaune chuckled kneeling down to pet the dog who yipped back in delight.

Jaune got up, reloading his laser rifle. Looking around he saw the last raider was nowhere near, or at least not in sight.

 _New plan. Check on the settlers first,_ _ **then**_ _go kill the raider._

Keeping his gun at the ready, he slowly made it to where the settlers were. Rounding the corner, he saw them on the floor, some in fetal position others weeping and a few tending to a woman bled out onto the floor.

Jaune didn't hesitate, pushing forward he made his way to the injured woman. The settlers now noticing his arrival began muttering and gasping in a mixture of awe and horror. Many flinched away as he neared but he paid no mind, he just needed to help save someone.

"What happened?" Jaune said crouching down next to an elderly woman who held the injured woman's hand. Reaching forward to grab the hem the woman's shirt to inspect the wound but was stopped short by a pitch fork pointed at his throat.

Dogmeat behind him growled.

"Down boy." Jaune commanded. Dogmeat whined indignantly but Jaune shook his head.

"What do want?" A man in his 30s snarled lowly.

Jaune slowly put his gun down in a placating manner. Keeping one hand raised up he reached into his coat's pockets. The pitch fork dug harder into Jaunes throat drawing blood but Jaune disregarded it and pulled out a syringe with purple fluid in it.

The man visibly relaxed at the sight of it.

"I just want to help her," said Jaune pushing the aside the pitch fork. The man stepped back and allowed Jaune inspect the wound. Nodding to himself Jaune went on and injected the Med-X, reaching again into his pocket he pulled out a Stimpak and injected it directly next to the wound.

" _She took our daughter.._." The woman whispered, trembling slightly with tears trailing down her face.

Jaune picked up his gun, stood up to face the man. He continued.

The trembling soon turned. "That bitch took Chloe... She found us here, shot my wife and took her!" He growled out angrily.

Jaune silently regarded the man before asking as calmly as he could.

"Do you know where she went?"

"Huh?"

"Do you know where she went?" Jaune repeated.

"Probably back to Revere Beach," the man said, defeated and let out a shuddering breathe. "It's Red Cinder we're talking about here. She'll torture her in that blasted train station for amusement before sending her off somewhere to die."

Jaune at that turned around and walked out briskly.

"Wait where are you going?" Chloe's father asked.

"Getting your daughter back."

Before he could leave the shadow of the building the elderly woman who sat next to Chloe's mother called out.

"You…Who are you?"

Jaune paused before turning his head back to the trio. Giving them an unseen hollow smile. In the eyes of the settlers the lenses of his helmet tinted blue.

"Nobody special."

* * *

 _On Saturday, October 23rd the year 2077 the world burned._

 _The Great War marked the end of an era, where people could live in peace. In a mere two hours the reasons for the war were consumed by the atomic fire as well as countless civilizations who embraced the flames as well._

 _It did not however mean the end of the world, just another chapter of mankind's bloody history._

 _Two hundred years later, what was originally Boston Massachusetts became a part of something larger and filled with Mankind's worst._

 _The Commonwealth._

 _The ashes of the War gave way for a world filled with more bloodshed and hate to rise up._

 _The Commonwealth Minutemen, driven by the old world's ideals envisioned a wasteland that was united and safe, free from Raiders, beasts and oppressors._

 _But it too eventually fell, betrayed by their own. They became weak._

 _And the weak never survive long in the wasteland._

 _In this frontier of civilization appeared a small boy. Having been raised in a world where the strong waged war and the weak were shielded by their protectors, the hellish wasteland wrought violent change._

 _Jaune Arc did barely survive,_

 _but not by all accounts._

 _His morals, way of mind and everything he cared for had all but shattered and disappeared._

 _But in this hellish wasteland he found something, a reminder,_

 _An Ideal._

 _An Ideal that people shouldn't have to worry about murderous Raiders, and the burned leftovers of old that seek to eradicate man and bogeymen who prey on the minds of many._

 _An Ideal that could keep people…safe._

 _However, the Wasteland taught him an important lesson,_

 _that there are no such thing as Heroes._

 _Only monsters who kill other monsters._

 _And so Jaune Arc set out to complete his ambition and over two long years, a legend slowly grew._

 _A legend of a Knight who held true to his ideals. A Knight who carved a path of blood slaying beast or guilty alike, and protected the innocent._

 _The White Knight of the Commonwealth._

 _Jaune found no shortage of enemies in the wasteland, opposing his ideal for the future._

 _And so Jaune Arc, for an all too human reason, went to war._

 _Because after all, War..._

 _War never changes._

* * *

Jaune continued stabbing his fists into the face of the raider below him. Her arms lay beneath him, broken, and her torso was charred to black from his gun. She tried putting up a struggle by swinging one of her broken arms uselessly at him but Jaune stabbed the raider in the bicep using the blade attached to his bracer. Closing his fingers around the raiders neck he eventually felt the body beneath him go limb.

Red Cinder was her name.

Unholstering Righteous Authority he fired twice into the carcass for good measure.

The body turned to red and eventually fell away in a pile of ashes.

 _Heh, "Cinders."_ Jaune thought with a hint amusement at the pun. Reaching up to undo the strap of his helmet, letting the helmet drop to the floor, he felt his blond locks wave freely in the slight wind, and inhaled deeply.

"Ugh... smells like crap," cussed Jaune pinching the bridge of his nose. Looking around he saw bodies strewn around haphazardly. Taking note of one of them who still had Crocea Mors stuck inside his body. Walking over he deftly drew out the ancient weapon, looking at the blood covered stains on the blade in mild disdain, he wiped it on the cloth of the dead raider.

Taking a look at it his reflection, his face had lost some of it definition since he had come here, before it looked full and had a healthy look to it. Now his skin looked pale and his cheeks had sunken in a bit. His hair was a mangy mess of bright yellows and dirt. He sighed at the sight.

"Two years huh..." he muttered, his eyes giving a bit of a far-off look.

" _Woof!_ "

Looking down he saw Dogmeat nuzzle his snout into his leg. Giving a laugh he crouched down and ruffled his fur.

"Woof! Woof!"

"Haha. Love you too boy," Jaune said giving him a weak smile. Walking back to where he dropped his helmet, picked it up. Taking a look at the white nano filament, he stared down through the blue lenses and at the serial number inside.

Synth Field Helmet model no. 903474839.

 _The Institute…_ Jaune thought with a scowl before shaking his head clear of those thought. He quickly fastened it back on and made his way over to where Chloe was kept.

" _Breathe in."_

" _Breathe out."_

" _Breathe in…"_

" _Breathe out..."_

There was no time to be thinking about that kind of stuff.

He had a life to save.

* * *

"Thank you… Thank you…" sniveled an overjoyed Chloe's mother as she hugged the sleeping body of the child.

Jaune found the little girl asleep in a cage, probably because it was easier to carry to Revere Beach. It also made it easier for him to carry her back.

He'd rather not have a child see the dead bodies he left there.

"Umm excuse me…"

Jaune moved his shaded eyes behind him seeing a brown haired woman motioning at him. Giving a slight tilt of his head he walked over.

"There's someone here asking for you." She said pointing toward a dead tree.

Below it was a mop of short red hair and a shotgun.

 _What is with me and redheads today?_

"I see yer still doing fine _blondie_."

Cait the King of the Combat Zone. Well former king. The Zone was shut down by the Dweller long ago now.

Did nothing to hinder the might the King though.

 _Yep she's pissed._ Jaune thought, wincing slightly at the way she was probably going to tear into him. He liked Cait but she still terrified him when she was pissed. Cait looked at him with her eyebrow raised, waiting hear his excuse.

 _Here goes nothing._

"Look... I'm sorry Cait, that I left you in the tavern, but you know I can't look the other way when it comes things like this."

Cait rolled her eyes and pushed herself off the tree. Giving him a 'light' dig in the shoulder she turned to walk away while he rubbed the said shoulder in slight discomfort.

"Come on, I'll yell at ya later for going on a killing spree without me. Let's get a move on. We need to get to back to base."

"Wait. What? Why?"

Cait grinned at the question and didn't stop walking.

"The Boss has decided. We're going to take back Quincy."

* * *

Two years, three months and four days.

That's how long ago he had died.

Saphron Cotta Arc sighed absentmindedly as she ran her hands through Adrian's hair. Terra was out working, and she was stuck at home watching their baby boy. The one year old burped, eliciting a smile as Saphron pat the baby on the back.

She hadn't actively kept track of that number. However, it always nested on the back of her head. A constant reminder of her failure as the eldest.

Her lack of judgment lead to his death.

But the one took it hardest was definitely the one who saw it herself.

 _Chris..._

She could still remember that day. They all knew of Christa's plan to stopping Jaune from trying to become a huntsman and while everyone had mixed feelings about it, they all had agreed it was the best course of action.

They knew it would hurt Jaune emotionally, but they just didn't want to see their little bro get killed, or waste his life away.

But when Christa walked through the doors into the house, Saphron knew they had messed up.

Lavender threw herself into a frenzy at the news and began running herself ragged with training blaming herself for not being there to help. Jeanne wouldn't even look at Christa anymore, blaming her for Jaune's death, and eventually moved away with her to Argus and planned to leave for Vacuo once she graduated Sanctum. Their parents were wrung with grief but were forced to push because of Blanc who was only 5 years old at the time, and Lily and Rose, the two twins who were just born after the incident.

They were all affected but eventually all of them had to move on from his death.

They had to.

Saphron refused to let her family remain broken for long.

She had to do it for him.

Christa however…

 _She still hasn't stopped looking for him._

Christa worked herself to the bone. She often came home with cuts, bruises and other various injuries. She went out into the wilderness for hours, and sometimes even days at a time and tried to search for him. One time, her search even stretched as far as Vacuo, but she never found anything.

In the end it was concluded that Jaune was incinerated by the lightning dust in the Bullhead.

Yet Christa still refused to believe it.

Saphron looked out through the window of her home, staring into the night sky. She was trying her best, but sometimes it felt overwhelming.

"What would you have done in my shoes, Jaune?"

* * *

 **END.**

 **And that's that. This is my longest chapter to date and I'm happy with the way it turned out.**

 **But damn hint bombs are your going way people. If someone doesn't start asking questions/ guessing what the hell happened to Jaune I think gonna cry XD.**

 **Hope you enjoyed. See you hopefully within a month.**


	4. The Year of the Four Emperors

**Soooo its been awhile huh.**

 **Look I know I said I'd upload before the summer last chap, but what can I say.**

 **Too much shit happened. Endgame, video games, life, injuries (broken bones) yada yada yada.**

 **Anyway, here's the chap.**

* * *

 **Beta'd by CeleneTheAngel**

* * *

 **"…what if you could fulfill your destiny in an instant, but at the cost of who you were?" – Pyrrha Nikos**

* * *

"What are you doing, Arc?" Demanded a voice next to him.

Jaune, recognizing the voice scrambled from his seating position and into a salute.

"Sargent Shaw," said Jaune. "Apologies ma'am I-"

Before he could continue Ronnie raised a hand up. "At ease, soldier."

Jaune sighed before relaxing. He had been looking through his scroll which was now integrated into the left eye panel on his helmet courtesy of Sturges. As he raised his hand back down, he turned a small dial at the side, causing the inner circuitry to turn off. He sighed as a photo that showed him and all sisters group together on the sofa.

"Jaune… what are you doing?"

Jaune quickly scribbled in the final letter before rushing back to the sofa and put on his best impression of a sloth. His father laughed while his mother shook her head in amusement...

"Arc!"

Jaune's heart jumped as he refocused back into the real world. Ronnie sighed at his antics before crossing her arms.

"This is why children shouldn't be on the battlefield," she growled out harshly, more to herself rather him. "Listen brat, I don't know why the General let you in nor do I care about what they say about you Knight but let me get one thing straight with you."

"I don't like you being here, but we're outnumbered and outgunned. If you get any of my men killed because you're off playing the hero, help me god, not even the General will stop me from having your head." she said finishing with a hard glare before continuing. "Preston will brief you on the mission. The squad you're with is waiting at the gate."

Jaune stared right back. He knew fully well him being here was unusual, if word got out that the Minutemen sent children to the battlefield, they would lose what little credibility and reputation they had. With this in mind he silently saluted.

 _Dead, they were all dead… he was the only one left. How long had he been here… days? Weeks?_

 _He didn't know, he didn't care._

 _He said he could help, be the hero._

 _David's blank eyes stared hauntingly back with maggots falling out of his mouth_

 _"… Someone…! ANYONE! Help..."_

He stopped being a child a long time ago.

Duck beneath the bullets, fire a nice spray of lead at them as they take cover, continue firing as your squad mate chucks grenades and incendiary, kill off the stragglers and repeat.

Oh, and occasionally loot the corpses.

 _Ugh, I'm starting to sound like Cait on a nice day,_ Jaune thought to himself. They were moving quickly against the Gunner forces. Him and his squad were taking the East side of Quincy Ruins along with another. Although they had cleared most of the forces, Jaune was still on edge. Most of the Residents were Gunners however a small few were actual civilians which forced them to run background checks on each.

That took time.

With Raiders at Poseidon Energy, Super Mutants at Wilsons Factory and Gunner reinforcements no doubt already incoming from the Plaza, the Minutemen were basically running on a ticking time bomb.

With them taking camp with gunfire in the distance didn't help Jaune nerves at all, as he restlessly picked at his Combat Rifle. Dogmeat sat by his feet patiently wagging his tail.

"Poseidon 1 this is Poseidon 2, do you read me?" said Sam, who had finished assembling the radio.

"This is Poseidon 1. What's the situation on your end?"

"Gunner squads in this sector have been cleared. Currently awaiting Green Smoke to move on."

"Still? Shit, at this rate we're gonna get pincered. What's the Castle saying about this?"

"Fuck all. We haven't heard a peep from them. Possible case of an attack?"

"That's impossible and you know it. This Op was only announced to Minutemen only radio in code."

Sam was about to reply back before Jay, the sniper of our squad, yelled back from her position from one of the roofs.

"I see smoke from the Quarries! One problem though…

… It's Low Red not Green."

In the Minutemen smoke meant several things. Green for cleared sector, Blue for artillery fire and finally Low Red.

Low Red was help.

"What do we do?"

No one had an answer.

"For now, I'd say we should get neighboring settlements to come to help out. We can't do anything directly to help, we're too far and still have Gunners to deal with." Said Sam, with Jaune reluctantly nodding in agreement.

 _If I was on my own maybe… but with evacuees here as well as the assault on the Church still ongoing…_ Jaune glared angrily at the ground before giving a frustrated sigh. Dogmeat gave a small yelp, as he gazed up at the smoke-filled sky.

 _A hero huh?_ , he thought.

His world went white.

And his battle began again.

* * *

 **5 Months Later**

The Castle was in chaos.

2 hours prior, the Institute made what was now known as "The Announcement". After decades of isolation the Institute had made a move, however that wasn't the worst of it.

"Your General has betrayed us all Preston! We've been compromised as well!" Desdemona yelled. Preston who stood from the large table in the former General's Quarters, didn't reply. Jaune knew he respected and admired the General greatly, so this came as a heavy blow to him. Deacon however came up to help him.

"Lay off Boss, he clearly had no idea. The question is, what do we do now?" he said.

Jaune watched on as they continued discussing, his thoughts moving on to the Generals betrayal.

"Jaune, what would you do if you had a chance to be with your family again?"

Jaune finally spoke up.

"We figure out their targets."

The room fell silent at his voice. Surprise palpable on their faces, he supposed he couldn't blame them. He was no where near as experienced as Desdemona or Shaw, when it came to dealing with the Institute. So, him speaking up at all was a surprise.

"A Nuclear Reactor gives the Institute a vast amount of power. However, it doesn't give the Institute a massive advantage over everyone else in the Commonwealth, and from what I know in the past the Institute had always intervened when the people tried coming together, preventing growth," he said with the filtered voice of his helmet, seeing the gears beginning to turn from what he was implying. He leaned back in his seat.

They didn't need to know that he only came with that conclusion due to a thought process which only began years before he became a proper "inhabitant" of the Commonwealth. Back when he thought Remnant could invade and save him.

 _"If you can't beat 'em, join 'em"_

"The Brotherhood… Is that what you're seriously implying?" Preston said staring at him in disbelief while Desdemona kept silent to which he was grateful for.

"The last Institute activity that MILA recorded was by the Mass Fusion building. P.A.M also had reports of Brotherhood of Steel making moves there as well," Desdemona said. "Deacon, what was your report on it?"

"Don't know what to tell ya Boss. There was a massive fight over there," Deacon said shrugging his shoulders. "From what I could tell afterwards the Brotherhood had gotten something seriously valuable. It was meant to go towards a project called Liberty Re-primed but I couldn't get anymore details on it. All of it is under serious heavy-duty security."

….

"Somebody get Sturges here, stat." Shaw growled.

* * *

Explosions, flickering lights, panic in the distance.

Kinda like watching Jeanne's horror movies… or was it Chris's?

He tried playing the memories in his head futilely, he had long since forgotten memories of specific events. He'd already forgotten faces of few friends and teachers, only really remembering his family with a picture of him and his sisters, his only family picture. Video games were all he made space for back then.

And the fact it was too funny to not keep.

He vaguely understood Pipers obsession with camera film now.

Blood dribbled down his chin as he coughed, he pushed himself against the glass of the elevator. Synths and Coursers lay in droves around him. The eye piece of his helmet was cracked but he could make out that he had no Aura left and, could tell he was basically dying with the slow increase in radiation along with his wounds.

He couldn't help but laugh. In a Wasteland anything could kill you but being done in by an outsider of all people, just like him.

Irony of it all made him wheeze more.

"Woof…"

Jaune looked to the side seeing Dogmeat laying weakly next to him. His hind legs were riddled with bullet holes and cuts, his breathing ragged and uneven. The armored canine nuzzled it's snout softly into Jaune's lap and closed his eyes. Seemingly waiting.

"Don't worry boy… I'm right here..." Jaune whispered, giving a small pat on the dogs' head as best he could with his broken arm. "… Looks like we're both getting a break now huh boy?"

"…T-minus 20 seconds…" an automated A.I announced.

 _Wonder if Saph and Terra had a kid yet?_ thought Jaune, his thoughts drifting to Remnant. 'Would have been cool to be an uncle.'

Blood pooled around him, small tears falling from his eyes. Jaune gave a small smile in bitter amusement.

"… T minus 10 seconds..."

"Sorry Gramps...guess they were right in the end..."

"... 5… 4… "

"I'll be seeing you soon enough."

" 2…1... Commencing."

He could feel it wash over him. The heat, the force, the radiation.

He was dying all over again.

He closed his eyes and saw his life before he was taken away, his future and his dreams. Everything had changed in an instant and he understood it happens to everyone at some point.

This world, The Commonwealth, wasn't what he wanted but he eventually found himself in it and soon it became home.

He thought he could achieve it his dream here, fulfill his destiny.

But now he knew.

He couldn't run from the truth.

He knew War.

And War never changes.

He opened his eyes to his world which had become black and purple.

And then the blue came.

* * *

 **End**

 **Short yes, but it was kinda necessary. The Wasteland has affected Jaune badly, how badly? Too badly enough that it'd take forever to write. So, I decided to simply push things to glimpses of the last year.**

 **But don't worry you will see what happened to Jaune where its important.**

 **See ya in the next one**


	5. Players and Pieces

**Well I'm back...**

 **Me being late to post a chapter is likely gonna be a running theme at this point and writing for the first time after a couple of months is bound to affect the quality somewhere or another.**

 **Not to mention this chapter isn't beta'd yet but I wanted to put it out cuz it's long over due.**

 **This fic over a year old yay!**

* * *

 _ **"Followed by... yes, followed by flashes; blinding flashes, sounds of explosions... We're- we're trying to get confirmation, but we seem to have lost contact with our affiliate stations... We do have coming in... confirmed reports- I repeat, confirmed reports of nuclear detonations in... New York and Pennsylvania... My God."**_

— _ **The News Anchor on October 23, 2077**_

* * *

 _Christa P.O.V_

In all her years of being a Huntress she now learned the true enemy of Humanity and Faunus alike.

It wasn't the Grimm.

It was something worse…

 _Paperwork._

She gave an audible groan as a tall blonde professional looking woman in a cape entered with more.

"Glynda are trying to kill me?"

Glynda smiled at her and promptly dumped another stack of papers on to her desk.

"Chin up 'Marigold' you'll get used to it eventually" Glynda said giving a small giggle at Christa who groaned.

"I swear if I hear that dumb middle name again, I will personally tell Oz that you replaced his coffee grains with tea grounds last week," Christa Marigold Arc sniped out playfully, Glynda crossed her arms with her hand to her chin thoughtfully.

"I did have a few more stacks of files that need to be sorted through and put through the system."

Christa rolled her eyes at the playful banter. She and Glynda had been good friends for a while now, though Glynda was the older one by a good margin. Christa considered her one of the saner staff at Beacon which she was thankful for. Even though her work persona and how she acted around friends were way different then she could've imagined and only came to one conclusion.

Glynda Goodwitch was a Mother Hen through and through, so much so Christa was willing to bet if you looked up the word it would show her face next the definition. Glynda tried acting the stern hardass known as the Deputy Headmistress but she was in the end a big softie for kids.

'She probably would've gotten married by now if she just stopped scaring everyone who hits on her,' Christa chuckling at the thought ignoring the half-hearted lecture from Glynda on why 'Marigold' is a wonderful middle name.

"Anyways moving on to more serious matters, how are the first years looking this year for Combat Course?" Christa asked, it was always a good idea to get a rough idea the student body's overall ability before Initiation. Beacon Academy as long as you pass the entrance exam, you are more than likely to have been accepted into the school but not everyone had the ability to become Freelance Huntsmen and Huntresses.

Initiation is considered by many as the true entrance exam as it filtered the students, it forces the individual in both speed, strength, tactics and teamwork, all of which a crucial to be a Hunter. Those who fail usually have option of either wait next year to take Initiation again or have the option of going into either Weapons, Defence or Research Courses. The courses were similar to that of a Combat Course but with combat having a much lighter presence with, obviously, more heavy influence their specific department.

Glynda hummed switching in her teaching persona smoothly.

'That still freaks me out on how quickly she can do that.'

"Okay in terms of quantity, I'd say about eleven for certain will get through"

Christa winced a bit, back when she attended there four solid graduating teams. It was an estimate sure, but she could count on the Elite Combat Professor on her judgment. Also, there was an uneven number which will spell complications in future.

Before she could reply her scroll buzzed. Fishing it out from her pocket, she stared at it for a second and then she showed off the screen.

"Oz must be kidding right?"

Glynda grinned.

"Welcome to be Beacon Academy."

* * *

Mission title: Beacon Initiation

Location: Emerald Forest

Mission Category: Guardian Angel

Objective: Rescue Ops – in the event an examinee is in mortal danger or unable to continue personnel are authorised to pull them out of the exam.

In other words, baby-sitting.

If Jeanne found out her first job at Beacon was this, she'd never hear the end of it.

'Oh, how mighty have fallen'

She sighed as more shrieks resounded from the sky with even more following as bodies flung into the open air.

"If this isn't Oz getting pay back for when the team pranked him, I don't know what to call it," Christa growled, huddling up in the branches of the trees, swiping across the screen of her scroll monitoring each student.

Turns out the whole 'fight everything in your path or else you die' speech was only half true. Apparently, the reason he gave it was to motivate the kids to try a bit harder which was sound and all but with a limited number of relics and with the thought of no staff watching led to brawls and more Grimm being attracted.

She would know after the infamous two-day long Initiation in her year when Oz thought it was fine idea hiding the relics on Grimm. Resulting in very few relics being obtained.

Enough said.

"Whatever he drinks out of that godforsaken mug is clearly gone to his head," she muttered. Flicking through the screen, more pairs had formed and taking out more and more Grimm.

Her eyes landed on a specific red-haired girl.

Pyrrha Nikos.

The Mascot for Pumpkin Pete's Cereal

The four-time Champion of Mistral Region Tournament.

And formerly one of two Christa Arc's apprentices for the past two years.

Christa smiled fondly as she watched Pyrrha boot more Grimm into the ground.

Long red hair suddenly overlapped short blonde. Her golden shield becoming white with the classic Arc symbol glistening in centre.

Quickly the image faded.

"Wonder what would have happened if you had still been around," she said her smile becoming a touch sadder. "Probably pester me to death about something or another."

A shrill yell rang through the air and her scroll beeped.

"Professor Arc, a student has accidently tripped one of Professor Port Boarbatusk traps. Please let them out of the cage and tell them they are continue on a straight route to Beacon.

She sighed.

'Is it really too much to ask to have a normal Initiation?'

A roar reverberated through the forest air.

'Guess not.'

"Time to save some brats."

* * *

 _Unknown P.O.V_

The Grimm laid dormant in its cave.

It had stayed here for thousand of years, avoiding contact with the world while waiting to carry out her will.

Soon it would feed off of the pathetic blight off this world and its kind would reign supreme.

However, when a loud flash of blue appeared outside of its cave it became curious. Was this a sign from its Master?

When it crawled out it's dwelling for the first time in years, it caught sight of the green beast looking about curiously it became angry.

How dare creature of light intrudes on its territory. It raised it stinger up and lunged.

The roar that followed for the first time in since its creation put emotion into the soulless being.

 ** _Fear_**.

* * *

 _Ruby Rose P.O.V_

"Did she just ride an Ursa?"

"Would everyone just stop for two seconds?!"

Ruby could conclude that Initiation was not what she was expecting.

Ah who the hell was she kidding.

It was going horribly.

"How could you leave me?!" screeched Weiss as she hung to the Nevermore for dear life. The Nevermore screeched at its passenger and flapped it wings furiously in attempt to shake her off.

"I said jump! "she said yelling back at her. Ruby grimaced at the sight of her letting go and plummeting to the ground below, in her defence she did say to jump and tank the fall like she had.

Though her aura was just crossing into the yellow.

'…. On hindsight maybe riding a Nevermore without a landing strategy was a bad idea'

A red-gold spear whizzed by catching the heiress by the sleeve nailing her to a tree.

Ruby let out a small sigh of relief as a tall red-headed girl walked up towards the group. She seemed awfully familiar but decided now wasn't the time to sic the I-think-know-you-but-I-can't-remember spiel on the girl. The girl smiled brightly at them and said:

"Hello! I'm Pyrrha Nikos."

"Hi I'm Ru-"

"RUBY!"

Ruby flinched as Weiss stomped over to them with Pyrrha's spear in hand. She could tell from looking at it was most definitely a spear/rifle combo, though it probably could turn into a sword too judging by the shaft and Weiss was yelling at her again.

"I have never-!"

Ruby looked up realising that the Nevermore was still hovering above them rearing its wings back.

"Duck!" Ruby yelled as razor sharp feathers rained above their heads.

Feathers crashing behind them, Ruby burst into a sprint to the pedestal quickly taking the white knight. The Nevermore circled above their heads, cawing as it went into a dive, right towards her!

Ruby tensed and burst into a petals' but in her tunnel vision she tripped up on a rock, faceplanting the rocky terrain.

"Ow," she groaned shaking her head. Faintly hearing a call behind her, probably Yang worrying about her for tripping.

"Come on Rose, you can't mess this up!" she growled to herself suddenly feeling a gust of wind coming from behind her.

'The Nevermore!'

It cawed its talon rushing to rip her to pieces.

She didn't have enough time to dodge, she closed her eyes and braced for impact.

"RUBY!"

A white blur filled her vision and then a rush of blue.

"Your so childish!"

Ruby opened her eyes, Weiss standing over her with a glare, but it softened.

"But I also can admit I can be difficult and-"

"Look out!"

The Nevermore reared it wind back and was about to send another volley of feathers but Ruby quickly grabbed Weiss pushed her semblance to where Yang was. Weiss unceremoniously dropped to the floor and gagged out rose petals.

"Give me back my apology," she coughed.

"Thanks for the save Weiss!" Ruby said joyfully before getting hugged furiously by Yang.

"Oh my god! Ruby are you okay?! Anything broken?! You're so grounded when dad hears about this!" Yang said blitzing through Ruby who groaned at her ribs screaming out in pain.

"Ugh… I'm fine… Let's get back to the others."

Soon enough the group behind them caught up to the trio. The Nevermore however managed to break free from Weiss's ice and was now circling above them.

"The Nevermore is circling back." Ren said calmly," what do we do?"

Weiss who had recovered from her flower troubles said," There's no point dilly dallying, our objective is right in front of us."

Ruby nodded. "She right the mission is to get the relic and bring it to cliffs, there's no point in fighting."

'Normal knees.'

"It's not going to wait for us. Let's move!" said Pyrrha breaking into a sprint and rushed past the two rook pieces. Quickly taking both and she threw one of the two to Nora who caught it and grinned.

"Thanks Cereal Girl!"

Pyrrha reddened a bit before chuckling in embarrassment. The group however didn't run quite far when something black and grey crashed in front of them. Ruby who had been leading the pack gasped at the sight of a Deathstalker who bled black blood profusely from stump where one of the claws used to be. Its tail was twisted and was hanging by a small thread of flesh off its main body.

Ruby winced as the Deathstalker screeched in pain, she tensed when it caught sight of her but was further shocked when it tried crawling away from her.

"It's running…?" Blake said in disbelief.

Ruby was about to reply when a boulder came hurtling through the air and the Black Scorpions legs. It screamed even harder but when Ruby turned to where the rock had come from, she froze.

' _What on Remnant is that?!'_

It looked like an Alpha Beowolf at least terms of build but that where the difference ended. It was twice as tall and had a tail. Having green scales with its yellow teeth exposed to the elements outside and hooked claws. Between the horned head and it being definitely not being some sort of Grimm as the colour scheme was all wrong, Ruby could conclude something was horribly wrong.

Then it roared.

Ruby could feel herself going weak to her knees as the vibrations passed through her.

She never learnt about whatever this Thing was in Signal.

It rushed forward with unnatural speed and speared the Deathstalker through its underbelly. The Deathstalker screeched even more as it felt itself being pulled up, giving its last whimper as it was ripped in half by the monster it angered. The Thing tossed the carcass aside, looked at the black smoke rising from it curiously. It then turned its head and saw them.

Ruby didn't know if it was from the way it facial features or something else, but she could've sworn it was smiling at them.

' _It's intelligent.'_ The logical part of her mind called out to her while she didn't have any concrete evidence, she knew for fact that this Thing was intelligent.

Ruby felt like she was staring death in the face.

"Rah!" a voice roared a yellow flare passing by her.

"Yang stop!" Blake shouted after her.

Yang didn't stop, Ruby knew why she rushed ahead though. She was panicking like her, that meant whatever this Thing was it isn't natural. Ruby quickly spied through the scope of her scythe and fired a fire dust round at chest.

It didn't flinch.

'Oh no!'

Yang punched it, her shotgun shells blasting forth into its side.

It stared at her for a brief moment before roaring. Swiping down its clawed hand forcing Yang to block overhead swing with both arms, Ember Celica uselessly fired shells in attempt to knock off the arm, but its strength pushed it down even harder on her.

With all Yang's attention to the one claw she didn't see the second one coming at her from the side.

"Yang!"

Ruby's eyes widen as it picked the blonde up, who shot her entire clip into its futilely. Watching as the claws hooked deeper into Yang's aura.

It was going to break.

"Weiss!" Ruby yelled rushing forward.

"On it!"

Ruby watched as Ice Dust slowly froze the Things legs, its side was pelted by explosions and bullets curtesy from the others, but it seemed only mildly bothered by it as no real signs of pain. It bellowed again then did something unexpected again.

It moved Yang in front of the gunfire.

With Yang now taking some of the fire and her aura reserves dangerously dipping into the lower 30% all fire ceased which the Thing took the opportunity to slam the blonde down to the ground with a sickening crunch. Yang coughed up spittle and a gasped for air as she lay shaking with her broken ribs. It reared its claws back to deliver one final blow.

"YANG!"

Ruby reached her hands out in a desperate attempt to somehow reach her. Tears streamed her silver eyes, petals appearing at the edge of her vision, as time moved to a crawl as the claw came crashing down on her sister.

She was going to lose someone again.

And she was helpless yet again to change it.

"WOOF!"

Ruby didn't know who screamed after but the next thing she knew was panting with her throat hoarse next to Yang's prone form reconvening with the group. The Thing thundered in anger it made a blind swipe to the dog who had knocked its arm out of the way and bit at its stomach, which now visibly had marks.

Unfortunately for the thing it was still stuck in the ice as the dog rushed toward them though moving with only three of its legs as one of its hind legs was bleeding profusely, it trotted up to them panting weakly. The canine was an odd sight with its armour covering it snout, back and front legs with a red bandana around its neck.

Not to mention it was carrying a small bag on the side.

"An armoured dog?" said Pyrrha shooting a quick glance at it before keeping her sights trained on the thing. She fired more bullets at it which caused even more frost to form, its bellowing's however had not ceased, and the vibrations trembled through them.

"What is even going anymore?! What is that Thing? Whose dog is that?!" The frustrated cries coming from that Blake person Yang was partnered with. Ruby ignored her and looked at her sister in concern.

Yang who had been slowly getting with Blakes help waved her off. "I'll be fine Rubes, thanks for the save. You too boy…" She said reaching out to pet the animal, who yipped playfully at her before tiredly slumping at her feet. Yang reached down to pick him up.

"What are you doing?! We have to move before that Thing breaks free!" Weiss said frantically while pouring even more aura into her Sigil though she knew she was only delaying the inevitable. It was going to break free soon.

"He saved my life and he's hurt. I'm not leaving him here to die." Yang replied harshly with a gasp, her aura frantically attempting to repair the damage done to her. Ruby looked at the dog, walking up to it, she tried to pick him up however with the armour and whatever was in the bag made it exceedingly difficult with the weight.

"Not you too!"

Ruby ignored her; her tears still wet on her face as she hugged the canine. She whispered a quick thank you, making a note in her mind to remember to buy treats for her canine saviour later, once they found his owner of course.

He kinda was like Zwei.

With that image in her head, she tried even harder to lift him up in her arms.

The roaring got even louder.

"We have to run now! Its not going to stay trapped forever!" said Pyrrha anxiously.

"Don't you worry Nora's here!" Nora, who had rushed forward quickly, put the canine up onto her shoulders in a fireman's carry showing no sign of discomfort when the metal of its armour dug into her back. Ren walked up next to her and quickly dislodged the sack clipped to his side. They both smiled at her before breaking into a sprint with the rest joining her.

Ruby wiped wetness off from her face, with a grateful smile tugging at her lips, she chased after them.

All the while doing her best to ignore the roars behind her.

* * *

 _Christa P.O.V_

"Christa, we have a situation."

Christa had been walking towards the cliffs with the Initiation slowly concluding. Most pairs had formed and gotten through without any issues and she was just about ready to take a nice relaxing bath and sleep for the rest of the evening before her self-imposed hell came to torment her the following morning.

9 o'clock was far to early of a start and she definitely wasn't a morning person.

Ignoring her musings, she wondered what could possibly cause a situation to arise this late into the exam.

"Give me the run down and I'll go pull them out." She replied, but Glynda shook her head from the scroll screen.

"No in this case. An abnormality arose… I've never seen anything like it before."

An abnormality? Her scroll pinged with a video file. It showed the forestry before something black and furry crashed down in front of the lens. The Deathstalker was an old one but it had its tailed twisted at several points and was hanging of the main body by a small bit of flesh. It roared in anger but what happened next threw her off completely.

There was another roar but this one was more feral, following it a scaly green creature came into the screen. Christa now intrigued set her eyes trained on whatever it was, she had been a hunter for 2 years now but despite what little time she had on the field she was very experienced in terms of what was out there. She would've definitely heard stories about something this scary looking. Whatever it was, it was either an undiscovered species or something else completely.

Oobleck will be very pleased in any case.

She watched as it bit into the section where the claw and the face meet, tearing away the flesh with its claws, soon enough the claw dislodged and was sent flying into the camera ending the footage.

"Its now on after the students we need you to go stop it," Glynda continued. "We already spoke with Professor Oobleck and Peach and both concluded whatever this thing is isn't natural. I don't what you do to stop it, don't let it near the students."

"On it, will back up be arriving if I get this thing alive?" Christa said breaking into a sprint. She thumbed the handle of Aurum before shifting it into its spear form.

"I'll head down myself once I've made sure the other students are safe. Be careful though it shown to be intelligent thus far and could potentially have other abilities like the Grimm."

"Don't worry, I'll make sure they'll be back to the cliffs in one piece" Christa said with determination seeping into her tone, her mind flashing back to that day 3 years ago.

Breathe in. Breathe out.

"You can count on it."

* * *

 **End**

 **Well that pretty much it.** **Initiation was bit of a chore to write out and I did take a few liberties in more then one area like Glynda and rehashing the Education System at Beacon. It doesn't make much sense to me to turn away potential soldiers against the Grimm and to not train them at all if they fail the one exam. So that's why I added the whole Weapons, Defence stuff, it won't change canon line too much anyways.**

 **Deathclaws are stupidly overpowered in Fallout 4. These things can survive almost anything and their only weak points are on the stomach which is hard to get to anyways and compared to mini nukes Dust bullets kinda pale in comparison.**

 **Did I exagerrate it? Yea but when facing the unknown people tend to make dumb moves anyways.**

 **See you in the next one.**


End file.
